


Becoming the Queen Bee

by bookmarkedpage



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, IDEK what I'm writing, It just happened, Miraculous!Chloe, Spoilers, but the focus is Chloe and her development, probably some lovesquare action in the background because I'm trash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-05-26 23:30:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6260371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookmarkedpage/pseuds/bookmarkedpage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chloe Bourgeois always considered herself the Queen Bee. When someone leaves her a Miraculous, she can actually become one. The only problem is, she has no interest in being a hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I keep seeing theories on Tumblr about Chloe getting the bee Miraculous. Here's my take on that theory.
> 
> Considering the Marichat trash that I am, I'm surprised this is my first contribution to the fandom. I fully expected to work on some shameless shippy fic. Oops. I just have a soft spot for trying to redeem bratty rich blond characters whose fathers will hear about this.

Chloe is annoyed by the old man.  He is sitting at a table outside of a café, and the handle of his cane slips off of the edge of the table. It clatters to the ground and then the old man takes his time getting up and obviously is having a hard time bending over to get it. She huffs and rolls her eyes as she walks; he is in her way and blocking her path.

 

“Ugh, here, just let me do it,” she says with a heavy, impatient sigh as she stoops and props the cane against the table for him.

 

“Thank you, mademoiselle,” the old man replies as he eases back into his seat, smiling.

 

Chloe flips her hair. “Whatever. You were just in my way,” she says and continues her brisk pace, grumbling to herself as she continues texting Sabrina.

 

“Her? Really, master?” a small voice says from within a pocket of the old man’s shirt, and a tiny green face peeks out at him.

 

The elderly man strokes his chin and nods. “Yes. Yes, I think so,” he says after moment.

 

The small green head shakes back and forth. “But you said no more mistakes…”

 

“I feel as strongly about this girl as I do about the last two,” says the man, and he tucks some of his pastry into his pocket for the kwami. “This may be exactly what she needs… and what they’ll need, too.”

 

That afternoon, Chloe drops her school things onto her desk and heads to her vanity to check her hair. The humidity kept trying to make it frizz all day, but Chloe Bourgeois knows her hair serums. As she steps in front of the mirror, she immediately notices the small box. As though she wouldn’t spot a new gift right away? She promptly opens it, not bothering to look for a card first, then scrunches her nose at the token inside; a small, gold hair comb with a tiny bee in the middle.

 

“Um…” she says to herself. Hair combs aren’t really her style; she prefers a nice, sleek ponytail, but the more she looks at the comb, she decides that it is cute enough, and she doesn’t have much planned for her evening, so she may as well take some time to play with her hair.

 

“Hello, miss!” a small, high-pitched voice says just as Chloe lets her hair down.

 

She shrieks and holds out the comb with the teeth facing out as a weapon. “WHO SAID THAT? WHO’S THERE?”

 

The voice lets out a giggle and something bright yellow zips by her face. “Just me!”

 

“I KNOW LADYBUG. YOU BETTER LEAVE ME ALONE. I’LL CALL HER AND SHE’LL BE HERE IN TWO SECONDS, YOU KNOW. I’M HER BEST FRIEND!” Chloe shouts, twisting around to find the source of the voice again. “SABRINA, ARE YOU INVISIBLE _AGAIN_?”

 

Another giggle. “No, my name is Neela!” And then the yellow thing stops in front of her face and hovers there. It reminds Chloe of a child’s toy, or that weird red thing of Marinette’s she found on the ground that one day. It’s head is much larger than its body, and it’s bright yellow with a few black bands around its body and one large black stripe around its head, like a mask over its gray eyes. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

 

Chloe shrieks and swats at the thing, then runs from the vanity with her arms covering her head, as though that would protect her from tiny insect germs. “OH MY GOD, A TALKING BUG, GROOOOOOSS. GET OUT, GET OUT!”

 

“I’m not a bug! I’m your kwami!” Neela trills as she zips along behind Chloe completely unfazed by the teenager’s reaction.

 

“Is that some, like, new bug? I don’t want your malaria!” Chloe squeals and throws open one of her bedroom windows.

 

Neela stops a few feet away from Chloe. “I’m your _kwami_. I’m here to give you powers!”

 

Chloe’s entire posture relaxes and her hands go to her hips, and she smiles. “Oh, powers? For me?” she says and flips her hair. “Well of course, duh. Like, why wouldn’t someone want to give me powers?”

 

Neela does a little flip in the air. “What’s your name?”

 

“Chloe,” she says and sits primly on the edge of her bed with one leg crossed over the other. “And it’s about time someone finally recognized how great I am. I mean, why didn’t this happen sooner? I’ve only been practicing my fighting moves for, like, _ever_ ,” she says, thinking about all the time she has spent in her Ladybug outfit.

 

“You’ve been waiting to become a super hero?” Neela says and flips around again, hovering in front of Chloe’s face.

 

“Um, _duh_. I mean, Ladybug saves me _all the time_ and I’m her best friend. Obviously I would be a great partner. She has to see how talented I am,” Chloe says and studies the kwami in front of her. “So what are you again?”

 

Neela smiles. “I’m a kwami! When you transform, I lend you my powers! But once you use your special attack, you only have a few minutes before the transformation will wear off, so you’ll have to be ready to hide shortly after that!”

 

Chloe considers that and tilts her head with a slight frown. “Attack? What do you mean ‘attack?’”

 

“You’ll have a weapon, but also a special power! You can stay transformed as long as you like, but as soon as you use your power I can only sustain the transformation for a few minutes before we have to release it. Buuuuuut, I’ll be ready to go again after I get a snack and recharge!” Neela explains and zooms around Chloe’s head. She notices a faint buzzing whenever Neela moves around quickly.

 

She twists on her bed to try to follow the kwami. So many possibilities! Everyone who ever doubted her or gave her a hard time will really regret it now. Not like everyone doesn’t already adore her, because _of course_ they do, but now? With _powers_? No one will fail to see her charm and how great she is. Maybe Adrien will finally admit how much he likes her and stop living in denial, because obviously he adores her. How couldn’t he? And people who try to oppose her father next election, well, she’ll be even more help to him now that she can sneak around in a super suit and destroy anyone and anything that gets in her way!

 

“Great! Awesome! So what are these super cool weapons and powers you were talking about Neelu?” Chloe says and flops onto her stomach, propping her hands onto her chin.

 

“Neela,” the kwami corrects gently with a friendly smile and flutters down onto the comforter in front of Chloe. “Your weapon is a fan-“

 

Chloe’s interested smile drops. “A _fan_?”

 

“A fan!” Neela chirps. “It’s a fold out fan, so you can close it and use it to fight, or open it and cause large wind gusts! You can blow over your opponent, or use it to propel yourself! And you can make your fan really small or really big, for large or small gusts! It’s really fun! It makes for a handy shield, too. It’s impenetrable.”

 

Chloe’s interest is renewed. “Keep going. What about this attack?”

 

“It’s not so much an _attack_ as a… well, helpful tool,” Neela says. “It’s ‘Honey Balm.’”

 

“Ooh, a honey bomb?” Chloe says eagerly and imagines throwing a sticky explosive at Marinette next time she gets too chummy with Adrien.

 

Neela zips up and playfully taps Chloe on the tip of her nose. The girl scowls but Neela laughs. “Balm! Honey Balm. Only use it when you really need to, because after-“

 

“Yeah, yeah, the transformation wears off, I get it. What’s it _do_?” Chloe says, waving her hand.

 

“You heal with it,” Neela says. “We usually use it to help our comrades, since it’s hard to convince an enemy to use it.”

 

Chloe scowls again. “That sounds _boring_.”

 

“It’s very helpful! If someone is injured, you can either spread the balm over a wound or they can drink it. It heals the mind and body!” Neela says. “Honey is very good at healing and soothing, you know.”

 

“Ew, I don’t want people to drink my honey,” Chloe says, wrinkling her nose.

 

“If it touches them, it’s just as effective. The healing power can still be absorbed,” Neela says.

 

Chloe makes a choking sound. “I don’t want people to _absorb_ my honey, either!”

 

“It just as to touch them somehow. A dab on the forehead it easiest, usually,” Neela replies.

 

Shrugging, Chloe decides she’ll come back to that later, because there are more important things to discuss. “So what about my outfit? Is it awesome? Can I see it?” She pauses, then adds, “Can I change anything I don’t like?”

 

Neela giggles again and zips up into the air as Chloe gets up. “You’re so eager! This is great! We’re going to be great! Especially since Chat Noir and Ladybug are already out there somewhere. Sometimes we all don’t get to work together.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Chloe says and flips her hair over her shoulders, then ties it up into her ponytail again and wraps a strand of hair around the tie, securing it in place with the comb. “So what do we do?”

 

“Just say, ‘Neela, transform me!’ and we’ll change!” Neela says and zooms around Chloe’s head a few times.

 

Chloe stands and tosses her hair. “Neela, transform me!”

 

With that, the yellow kwami is joined with the comb and yellow light surrounds Chloe for a few seconds. She can feel her clothes changing, and then the light fades just as quickly. She opens her eyes and dashes toward a mirror.

 

“Not bad,” she says as she twists and turns, admiring the outfit. It is a skin-tight, one-piece unit, but she has black knee-high boots with only a small heel, and her black gloves go up to her elbows. The rest of the outfit is yellow with a few black stripes, and mask covering her eyes is solid yellow. Glancing down again, she notices a small holster on her thigh where a small folding fan is tucked away. She opens it; it’s a plain, pale yellow, but holding it, she _feels_ power and potential. Wearing this _suit_ makes her feel powerful, too. Is this what Ladybug and Chat Noir feel when they change, too? She feels stronger and glances at her window, at the rooftops stretched far ahead of her.

 

“I want to test it out,” Chloe says, but no one answers. She just feels a sense of strength that she is itching to do something with.

 

Looking down at her fan, she closes it and tugs each end. Her eyes widen as the fan lengthens, and when she opens it, it is exactly as Neela said, and it’s like she can feel the air around it trying to pull the fan into motion. She swings her arm back and then forward and watches gleefully as all the furniture in her sitting room blows over and knocks into each other with a loud crash, and she bursts into laughter.

 

“Oh, this is going to be _so_ cool,” Chloe says and closes the fan, then pushes the opposing ends together to make it short again, opens it, and gives it a small wave toward her vanity; a few bottles knock over.

 

She runs out of her room and takes the elevator up to the roof, then lengthens her fan again and opens it only a few inches, enough so that when she swings her fan down, it creates a concentrated gust of wind and she shoots upward into the air. She laughs at first, but then she starts to come back down and she panics until something reminds her _the fan_ and she swings it and bursts up again. This time she concentrates on her legs and feet and stumbles when she lands, but at least it’s not on her ass like it would have been before. She practices jumping a few times and can tell her muscles want to _leap_ and _bound_ , which is a new sensation for her; normally she prefers to make people drive her everywhere, but something about the power coursing through her makes her feel… invincible.

 

Chloe backs up to the edge of the roof, then breaks into a run, speeding up along the way and when she reaches the other end she pushes off with her feet and lets out a shout of joy as the strength of her own body propels her to the next building. When she is about to land, she swings her fan and the stream of air lifts her into the air again. It’s almost like flying. She spreads her arms as she shoots upward, and when she starts to get lower, she swipes her fan through the air. The more she does it, the easier it gets, like she can tell exactly how to tell the wind what to do, like she was meant to fly.

 

People notice her soaring through the air above the city. Some point up at her and wave, and she waves back, offering a broad smile. It’s about time her adoring fans pay more attention to her, and she supposes she can be gracious enough to acknowledge them. A scream interrupts her thrilling flight over Paris. She lands on a roof and looks around. Blocks away, Ladybug and Chat Noir are already engaging some ugly thing ( _akuma_ comes to her from the back of her mind, but _whatever_ , it’s ugly) that looks like the unholy love child of a clown and a shark. Ugh, gross.

 

Chloe feels compelled to rush in, then shakes her head. “Ugh, ick. No way,” she says, waving her hands in front of her. “I mean, you honestly expect me to go in there and, like, try to fight it? I just got my nails done! Isn’t it bad enough that my gorgeous new manicure is covered up by these boring gloves?”

 

Something tells her _they might need you_ , and she tries to ignore the thought. What’s the point of having this new cool suit and new powers if she has to get _dirty_? She’s already been kidnapped and attacked a million times by those annoying things. _But you’re stronger now_. Still, Chloe observes the fight below. She’s not a fighter. She’s not some noble hero.

 

“Hey! Honeybee! What are you going to do?”

 

Chloe glances down again at the random civilian on the ground cowering behind a car as the fight makes its way down the street.

 

“Um, excuse me?” Chloe replies and crosses her arms.

 

“Aren’t you here to help?” asks the man.

 

She flings her hair over her shoulder and runs her fingers through it, ensuring it didn’t get tangled in her trip across the city. “And _why_ would I do that? I have other things to do.”

 

“You’re not- but you look-“ the man stammers.

 

The akuma rushes down the street and shoves a bus out of its way. Several shouts sound from the bus as it topples over and Chloe sighs, jumping down from the ledge of the roof and swings her fan at the bus, sending a gust of air down the street to push it upright again before it finishes falling sideways. That was sort of cool, she guesses.

 

“Honeybee, look out!” shouts another voice; clownshark guy noticed her and has his sights set on her as he throws several sharp teeth at her like throwing stars ( _ewwww, is he throwing shark teeth at her, grossssss_ ). She opens her fan all the way and holds it in front of her like a shield; sure enough, the teeth bounce off of it harmlessly.

 

Chloe snaps her fan in his direction and a sharp gust of air hits him in the chest, sending him stumbling backward. “And BY THE WAY,” Chloe shouts to everyone listening. Even Ladybug and Chat Noir glance over at her. “I’m not just _any_ honey bee, thank you very much. I am the _Queen Bee_. So you better not forget it!” With that, she closes her fan most of the way and flicks her wrist to bring up a tight funnel of wind as she shoots up in the air. “AND _YOU’RE WELCOME_ FOR THE HELP. NOT LIKE YOU SAID ‘THANK YOU’ OR ANYTHING.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and her kwami, Neela, return home and discuss Chloe's first outing as the bee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All typos are my own. I don't have a beta. Any feedback is welcome! Corrections on facts are appreciated, too, especially regarding French.

The return trip back home takes longer than expected. People below call after her, but she ignores them. As soon as she reaches the roof she releases the transformation and heads straight to her room, stomping around loudly. Of course no one appreciated her help. How ungrateful? Especially Ladybug! They are supposed to be best friends!

“Chloe, what happened?” Neela asks, buzzing around Chloe’s head. “Why did you leave the fight?”

Chloe rolls her eyes and heads to her vanity. She runs her fingers through her hair and cringes at the tangles her fingers get caught in. “You’re still on that?”

“It wasn’t over yet,” Neela says and lands on Chloe’s shoulder.

She lets her hair down and combs the ends carefully. “Uh, duh. Obviously.”

“But we’re meant to _help_ Ladybug and Chat Noir!” Neela says and sputters as some of Chloe’s hair gets in her little face.

She gives a short, sharp laugh. “Oh _please_. Like I have time for that. And in case you didn’t notice, which apparently _you didn_ _’t_ , I so contributed.”

“I did see, and you did great! But you left before the fight was done!”

Finished with the ends, Chloe works on combing the rest of the length of her hair. “I thought we already established that I just got a manicure. I’m not about to break a nail!”

Neela zips off of Chloe’s shoulder and hovers in front of her face, blocking Chloe’s view of her reflection. “Because it’s our duty!”

“Ugh, gross word, don’t say that again-”

“-and you were doing so well! You learned so quickly!”

With one hand on her hip, Chloe waves her comb at the kwami. “Well _obviously_ I learned quickly. That’s why you picked me, right? Because I’m so smart.”

“It’s our _job_ to help Ladybug and Chat Noir! Le Papillon is getting smarter about choosing his champions-”

Chloe tries to swat the kwami out of the way with her comb.

“-so they need our help-”

She sighs in frustration when the kwami doesn’t seem bothered and takes a step to the right. Damn, this thing is _annoying_.

“-and that’s why I was sent out-”

Neela dodges to the right, still blocking her reflection. Chloe is starting to doubt if super powers are worth it if it means never having access to her mirror again. Like, she can’t let this impact her daily life like this. It would ruin her (although, on the other hand, could anything _really_ ruin Chloe Bourgeois?).

“-because the Honeybee can heal-”

Chloe stomps her foot and balls her hands into fists. “I’m the _Queen_ Bee! _Remember_?”

Neela gives Chloe a warm smile. “They need the bee’s healing power more than ever now, Chloe.”

She frowns more. “They had it under control.”

“You _have_ to,” Neela says and flutters down to balance on the lid of a perfume bottle.

“I don’t _have_ to do anything,” Chloe snaps and resumes combing her hair.

Neela stays perched on the perfume. A minute of silence passes between them, and the kwami observes her new charge. The measured motions of running the comb through her hair is obviously calming to the teenager, and Neela can tell that the tension is slowly leaving her shoulders. Another minute passes before she starts up again. “Chloe?”

“Hm?”

“I know you liked flying,” Neela says.

Chloe doesn’t respond, but instead heads for her bathroom and gets ready for a shower. The kwami doesn’t follow, but instead uses the time to explore her human’s living quarters. It is definitely different than the last one she partnered with. Nearly the opposite, in fact, but this girl isn’t the first vain bee for Neela. Her last human was very much a worker bee, and the one before that was very nurturing and loved to heal. Fortunately, Neela loves all of her bees, even the ones who love to be the center of attention.

Meanwhile, Chloe prepares her tub for a nice soak after she washes up. She massages a deep-conditioning masque into her hair and wraps it up, then rests in the lavender-scented bath. Every few minutes she glances around to see if the kwami thing is around, but the creature is apparently leaving her alone, which is _good_ because ugh, it would be so creepy if it followed her in here and watched her get naked.

Still, the last thing it said nags at the back of her mind, because Chloe _did_ like flying. _Does_ like it. She felt strong and weightless and entirely in control of her own safety for once, unlike all those times a monster got the better of her and hauled her away, and that time that Ivan just had to throw a hissy fit and turned into that rock thing and _launched her whole body off of the Eiffel Tower_. Or when Mylene turned into that horror-thingy and hide her in some gross saliva pod. Like, seriously, some of these people need to grow backbones. How do they expect to survive the world if they can’t take criticism? The world is not a gentle place; she knows. You have to _demand_ what you want, not cringe and wait for it to be handed to you.

Even so… aside from Neela’s expectations for her to become a vigilante, she admits at least to herself that the bug thing is right about the flying. For a few seconds, she didn’t even mind that her hair was getting tangled, because swooping _herself_ out of a free-fall was invigorating, and stopping that bus from falling sideways with all those people in it _did_ make her feel strong. And when she blasted that ugly clownshark across the street and he landed on his ass? It made up just the tiniest bit for all those times she’d been taken prisoner by a weak-willed peer (nevermind the time that Chloe was lured into Le Papillon’s control once herself, because obviously Chloe was right about how to defeat Sabrina, so it was _totally_ justified).

But the whole fighting thing? Really? Sure, it looks cool when Ladybug does it, and having these powers makes Chloe feel more on the same level as her idol. Thinking back to the times she and Sabrina cosplayed together seems almost childish now (although Chloe still thinks she makes an awesome Ladybug, in her humble opinion). Running around in her costume with a toy yo-yo just doesn’t compare anymore to _real_ power, to propelling herself along the rooftops of Paris. Fighting, though? She’s seen the types of hits that Ladybug and Chat Noir take; she has _zero interest_ in getting bounced around like a basketball or used as someone’s human punching bag. Sure, all that fame and adoration is great, but _so_ not worth the bruises or pain.

The bath water is much cooler now. Chloe drains the water and rinses the masque from her hair and finishes the rest of her evening beauty routine. She changes into pajamas and dries her hair, and Neela flutters over to her.

“You again?” Chloe says.

“Do you have any peanuts?” Neela asks.

Chloe raises an eyebrow. “Um, not up here. In the kitchens, maybe. Why?”

“I’m hungry,” Neela says and zips around Chloe’s head. “I really like peanuts.”

“Aren’t you supposed to want, like, honey or something? Is that what bees eat?” She pauses. “God, am _I_ going to start craving honey all the time? Or- _ugh_ , you _better not_ expect me to, like, run around and cross-pollinate or something, and I am _not_ going to eat flowers-”

Neela laughs and lands on top of Chloe’s head; the girl swats her, but she just darts up and flutters back down again. “You have nothing to worry about, Chloe. I just really like peanuts.”

“Fine, I’ll have some brought up,” she says and grabs her phone, sends a quick text, and goes back to coming her hair.

“Have you thought about what I said?” asks the kwami as she goes to sit on a can of hair spray.

Chloe rolls her eyes and sighs. “Look, I’m not a _hero_ or anything, okay? I mean, sure, it’s hot when Ladybug does it, but that’s not me. I’m not going to throw myself in front of some icky monster with no taste. Isn’t that what Chat Noir’s for?”

Neela nods. “True, they’re partners, but his job _is_ to make sure that Ladybug can put everything right in the end. Sometimes that means he ends up causing her problems along the way, though.”

Chloe snorts. “See? I’ve had enough of that. Now I have _you_ so I can get the hell out of the way when they bring all that drama around me. I’ve seen the videos. I _so_ don’t plan on getting possessed just so she can fling her yo-yo around at butterflies.”

“But don’t you see? Right now she only has the cat, and while he is a very capable partner, there is strength in numbers! If Chat Noir is incapacitated-”

“Um, I don’t want to be around for people losing their heads-”

“ _Incapacitated_ , Chloe- if he is wounded, or his mind is controlled by a victim, you can heal him!” Neela says with a wide smile.

With another roll of her eyes, Chloe adds some serum to her hair and combs it some more. “And what if something happens to _me_?”

“Then that only means you’ve bought Ladybug more time, either by healing the cat, or ensuring he lasts long enough to defend her until the fight ends,” Neela says.

Chloe considers that, then finally gives a non-committal “Hm.”

The conversation is interrupted by a chime at her door. Chloe leaves and returns with a dish of peanuts. She finishes tending to her hair while the kwami eats her fill of peanuts, leaving shells on the empty tray.

“Are you sure I can’t return you?” Chloe says as she turns out the lights and settles into bed, tugging a sleeping mask over her eyes. “Because I didn’t sign up for all this work, and it sounds like there’s a lot of it. Like, I have homework to do, you know, and what will Sabrina say if I just go missing all the time?”

Neela finds a spot on the corner of the large mattress to nestle into. “No returns. At least, not until I am no longer needed.”

Chloe sighs, annoyed, and closes her eyes. “Whatever. Good night.”

“Good night, Chloe. Sweet dreams,” Neela replies.

After a few moments, Chloe bolts up in bed. “What a minute. _Wait a minute_.”

Neela opens her eyes. “What is it?”

“I… I _saw_ something just like you- except it was red, and- this stupid girl in my class, Marinette, tried to take it back from me,” Chloe says. “Do you think- was it something like you?”

Neela closes her eyes.

“ _Neela_.”

The kwami keeps her eyes closed.

With a frustrated growl, Chloe flops back down onto the bed. “Probably not. I mean, Marinette is _way_ too clumsy to be Ladybug. I mean, Ladybug is just too graceful. She’s probably just a pathetic fangirl or something.”

Neela burrows into the mattress. “Hm.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe has zero self-awareness.
> 
> She keeps trying to make "fetch" happen. It's not going to happen.

In the morning, Chloe wakes up slowly to the melodious chime of her alarm (as if she could ever wake up to the obnoxious beeps or blaring sounds of any old alarm). She stirs slowly at the gentle times, then stretches and rolls toward her phone, swiping the screen to turn off the sound. She takes her time to stretch and rubs her eyes, then lifts her phone and checks her various social networks to see if anything interesting happened, though she doubts it.

That is, until she sees something Sabrina posted and immediately notices the picture of a blonde girl in a skin-tight black and yellow outfit whipping her fan through the air.

“Huh. So that really happened?” Chloe says.

“It did!”

Chloe startles and swings her hands wildly, but never manages to swat the kwami, who only giggles and settles by Chloe’s head. “You’re still here?”

“I’m still here!” Neela replies. “We’re going to school, right?”

“Excuse me. _We_?” Chloe gets out of bed and bends over to stretch some more. “What makes you think I’d take you to school where, like, everyone would see you?”

Neela somersaults in the air. “In case something happens, so I’m with you. I’ll stay in your purse. Just leave me some peanuts and I’ll be fine.”

Chloe straightens and stretches her arms over her head. “Ew, and let you make a mess in my purse? I don’t think so.”

“I won’t leave a mess,” Neela says and lands on top of Chloe’s head, who swats at her but misses.

“Whatever,” Chloe replies and hits play on a video from the Ladyblog; Alya managed to capture Chloe’s arrival and departure from the scene. When the video ends, she presses play and watches it again. That is really how she looks? Because of course Chloe thinks she looks fabulous all the time, but something about being in the suit makes her seem more… grounded. After getting home last night, she had nearly forgotten that she stopped the bus full of people from toppling over. Now, she actually notices the faces of the people inside the bus and takes a moment to study them. Seconds later, Chloe watches herself jump away in the video and out of the frame, but Alya kept her camera on the bus for a few seconds; people ran out of it and onto the street, calling their appreciation to Chloe, but she didn’t hear it at the time. She’d been busy yelling at Ladybug and Chat Noir for not thanking her. The random nobodies on the bus? _They_ thanked her.

And the _comments_ on the video. So many people speculating on her identity, a few adding their thanks for helping them, compliments on her outfit. She heads to her vanity, eyes still on her phone, and scrolls through the comments. They seem never-ending.

“They seem to like you already!” Neela chirps as she settles on a can of hair spray.

Chloe smirks. “Obviously. How could they not?”

Neela’s tiny wings buzz, but she stays seated on the hair spray. “I think you’re surprised.”

Ignoring her, Chloe only responds with a “hm” and quickly washes her face and applies her moisturizer, then continues through her morning routine. After breakfast, she drops some peanuts into her purse and Neela settles inside of it, and the two leave for school.

She looks around at the crowd of students as they mill around the front steps, all gossiping excitedly, and she can barely suppress a smug smile. Seconds later, Sabrina is at her side. “Did you hear? Did you see my post? About the new super hero?”

Chloe flips her hair. “Of course I heard about it already.”

“What do you think?” Sabrina says and hands over a folder with Chloe’s assignments.

“About what?” Chloe replies and takes the folder.

Sabrina tags along beside her as they head into the school. “Who could it be? Why did she show up?”

“What makes you think I know?” Chloe snaps. “Why are you asking so many questions?”

The rest of the walk to their lockers is quiet. Once they get there, Sabrina clears her throat and says, “Did I do something wrong?”

Ugh. If Chloe’s honest with herself, she knows Sabrina did nothing wrong, and she is more annoyed that she can’t pinpoint why she was irritated about the questions. Maybe it’s because she would love to be able to boast about herself, but knows she can’t. The initial thrill of people liking her has already worn off, so she’s annoyed about that, too. What’s the point of being excited over everyone talking about her super hero identity if she can’t even take the credit for it?

“God, you stress too much. Calm down,” Chloe says as she gathers her things.

Sabrina’s shoulders relax, and the girls head to class. Of course, everyone _still_ hasn’t shut up about the Queen Bee, and she makes a point to eavesdrop as much as possible as she enters the room. Adrien and Nino are both turned around in the seats and talking to Marinette and Alya about it. She frowns, but sits and takes her time setting her purse on the floor beside her desk. First of all, Adrien didn’t even acknowledge her presence, and second, as if Marinette Dupain-Cheng would have anything intelligent to contribute to the conversation. Thinking too much about that only threatens to take her mind down a path that she really cannot afford to go down in class, not to mention she refuses to believe that ugly lie her mind is trying to tell her about him anyway.

She glances into her purse and peeks under the little yellow scarf she tucked into it to cover Neela. The kwami is napping, nestled against the small pile of peanuts. Chloe looks at Marinette out of the corner of her eye, then lifts the purse and sets it in front of her on the table instead; better not to risk the class klutz tripping over her bag _yet again_ and ruining everything.

When the teacher comes in, Chloe has never been so glad to have class start and be over with, and she is relieved when it is finally time for their lunch break. She grabs her purse, and Sabrina gathers their books and folders, and just as she’s about to leave, the new girl sticks her head into their room.

“Hi, Adrien,” Lila says with a wave.

“Oh, hey, Lila,” he replies.

Lila looks up and waves to Marinette as well, and she joins the small group to discuss lunch plans. Chloe doesn’t bother to hide her blatant eavesdropping on their conversation.

Alya gathers her bag. “So what do _you_ think of the new super heroine, Lila? Any theories on Honeybee and who she could be?”

“I thought her name was the Queen Bee?” Chloe says, though the group doesn’t acknowledge her.

Lila huffs, shoulders tense. “Not really. Her outfit’s cool, I guess. She didn’t stick around long, did she? And Ladybug was pretty rude to her, if you ask me, so no wonder she left so fast.”

Adrien clears his throat. “Maybe she’ll show up again, and we’ll get to see her work together with them more.”

“So!” Marinette says, a little too loudly. “Lunch?”

“Lunch,” Lila agrees and turns to Adrien with a wide smile as she slides her hand up his arm. “Do you have to go home, or can you eat with me?”

Marinette nearly trips on her way down the steps beside Chloe’s desk.

When the group is out of the room, Chloe turns abruptly to Sabrina. “So the new girl’s friends with Marinette? _And_ dissing Ladybug? I thought she was supposed to have _taste_?”

“I don’t know,” Sabrina says and shrugs, hugging Chloe’s books to her chest. “She said she likes Honeybee’s outfit, though.”

“ _Queen Bee_ , Sabrina. She’s the Queen Bee, and her outfit is pretty awesome, isn’t it?” Chloe says with a toss of her hair. “Still, is she honestly still upset over that whole Volpina thing? Like, get _over_ it already. Ladybug and I got in a fight, but I totally forgave her, because we’re such best friends.”

Sabrina hesitates. “Yeah. Exactly.”

Chloe notices the hesitation, but flips her hair. “And what’s with her being all over Adrien? I mean, can’t she tell he doesn’t even like her? It’s _so_ obvious. It’s almost sad, really, the way she’s throwing herself all over him. He really needs to learn how to tell people to back off and respect his personal space.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Any and all feedback is appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An akuma appears, and Chloe has to actually Do Stuff.

The next time an akuma attacks is during lunch a few days later. Chloe is used to having Neela around and tolerates the kwami’s presence. They go out at night and practice flying. Not like it’s difficult to sneak out anyway; the only people who would show up unexpectedly are Sabrina and the butler, and if either of them show up and she doesn’t answer, well, they’re both used to having their knocks ignored when she wants to be alone.

Chloe and Sabrina are both eating in Chloe’s bedroom when the floor and walls shake, accompanied by a loud crash from below.

“What was that?” Sabrina squeaks, clutching her hands to her chest. Everything rumbles again with an even louder boom.

Chloe, of course, has her suspicions. “Probably just some of the staff messing something up again. I’ll handle it. Stay here,” she says and waves Sabrina back to her seat.

As soon as the door closes behind her, Chloe ducks into the stairwell and makes sure no one is around.

“Chloe, that sounded like-” comes a small voice from inside her jacket before Neela pokes her head out.

“I know, and I’m really tired of people trying to destroy my hotel,” Chloe snaps and sighs. “Neela, transform me!”

Moments later Chloe reaches the lobby. A tall man with slicked-back, pink hair and a crisp, navy blue business suit stands in the middle. He holds a tablet and stylus, and when he spots Chloe, he throws the stylus like a dart. She ducks in time and opens her fan, then peeks around it to observe the akuma more.

“I’M HERE FOR MAYOR BOURGEOIS,” he shouts. “HE CAN’T HIDE FROM ME FOREVER.”

Chloe sighs heavily. “Well, he’s not here, bucko.”

“STOP LYING. I FOUND OUT HIS TRUTH AND HE CAN’T SILENCE ME ANYMORE.”

Ugh. Chloe is _so done_ with all these conspiracy theorists trying to ruin her father. “Look, I don’t know what you think you found out, but whatever it is doesn’t mean you can just come crashing in here and destroy the place!” She flicks her fan and marches up to the akuma in her lobby.

“I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING HE LOVES, BECAUSE _HE DESTROYED ME_.”

“Ugh, stop being do dramatic,” she says.

The akuma fires several darts at her at once. Chloe jumps out of the way, but one grazes her arm. “And _stop throwing things at me_.”

“TELL ME WHERE MAYOR BOURGEOIS IS HIDING,” the akuma shouts and tosses his tablet at the elevator; the doors explode upon impact. “I KNOW HE RIGGED THE ELECTION.”

Her suit is still in tact, but she can still feel a singing sensation in her arm. She snaps her fan open. “I’ve _told_ you, he’s _not here_ ,” she says and swipes her fan at him. She intends to send him flying out the door, but her aim is off and she knocks him into the wall.

The akuma laughs and pushes himself up. “That’s all you’ve got? You fight like a girl, tiny bumble bee.”

Bristling, Chloe squares her shoulder and grumbles, “I’ll show you how a girl fights.” In seconds, she takes a few running steps and launches herself into the air, then somersaults into a descent. When she’s nearly on top of him she reaches out and grabs his hair in both of her fists. He shouts as he is bent backward while Chloe curls into her tumble, effectively flipping the akuma up and over herself by his hair. He slams onto the ground in front of her, so she takes the opportunity to smash his face into the marble floor while her hands are still twisted into his hair. “Stop going after the mayor!”

“I can’t! I know what he did!” the akuma mumbles against the floor.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Just because he played dirty doesn’t mean anything,” Chloe snaps, then blinks at herself; she isn’t sure why she said that.

The akuma laughs and reaches up for her wrists; the two wrestle as he eventually pries her off of him just as Ladybug and Chat Noir rush into the lobby and skid to a halt.

“He’s after the mayor, but he’s not here!” Chloe tells him, and they both nod.

“I WILL EXPOSE HIM FOR THE FRAUD HE IS,” says the akuma and throws another explosive tablet toward the stair case, and everyone ducks as debris flies everywhere.

“We need to get him out of here or he’ll bring the whole place down; there’s no way we can evacuate everyone,” says Ladybug from her right.

Chloe glances to her left to see that both Ladybug and Chat Noir dove toward her during the explosion.

“What does he want with the mayor anyway?” Chat asks.

“He thinks the mayor rigged the last election, and thinks that Mr. Bourgeois has been making him keep quiet about it or something,” Chloe says and tosses her hair. “Which is ridiculous. He won because the people love him.”

Ladybug rolls her eyes, and Chat Noir taps his chin in thought. “So if he’s after the mayor, and he knows the mayor isn’t here, then… why is he still blowing things up?”

“He said he wants to destroy everything, because the mayor destroyed him? I don’t know, he’s been really melodramatic this whole time. There’s no reasoning with him,” Chloe says, “but I’d appreciate it if he stops making a mess of the place.”

“Right. Let’s relocate, shall we?” says Ladybug, She grabs her yo-yo, but Chloe beats her to it and whips out her fan again. This time her aim is true and the gust of air sweeps him off of his feet and sends him crashing through the glass doors. Chloe cringes; not for the man, but for all the damage to the hotel. She hopes that Ladybug’s magic will fix it. She is so very tired of pissed off people destroying her mother’s hotel.

Ladybug and Chat Noir dash after the akumatized victim, and Chloe follows them. Instead of joining in right away, she watches the two work together. The akuma sends another volley of darts at the pair, and one catches Chat Noir in the side. He yelps and rips the dart out.

“WHERE IS MAYOR BOURGEOIS?” the victim yells at Chat Noir.

“City hall,” he replies without hesitation.

“Chat, what are you doing?” Ladybug says, scowling.

“I- I don’t know,” he replies and shakes his head. “But, in my defense, it’s obvious that’s where he is-”

The akuma takes off down the street during their moment of distraction, and the group chases after him again.

“I think the darts might have some sort of truth serum in them,” Chloe says as the trio travels along the rooftops.

Ladybug groans. “That explains it then.”

“See? I’m not just some chatty cat,” Chat Noir says, smirking as Ladybug groans again.

They catch up with the akumatized victim and Ladybug launches her yo-yo at him. The victim trips as he is tied up and Chat Noir leaps down to search him for anything that could be the item.

“Any clue where it could be?” Chat calls to Chloe as she drifts down from the roof after Ladybug.

“I didn’t spot anything on him,” she says. “At first I thought it could be the tablet, but then he threw it and blew up my- the- the elevator with it, so- obviously not the tablet.”

Ladybug stoops and searches the victim’s pockets. “Well, he says he has dirt on the mayor, right? So maybe he’s a reporter, or investigator, or-”

“Or it’s NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS,” the victim cries.

In quick succession, the victim manages to wiggle one arm free and produces a new dart, taking aim for Ladybug. Just as she is preparing to jump out of the way, Chat Noir throws himself in front of her.

At the same time the victim plunges the dark into Chat Noir’s arm, Chloe throws her hand into the air and shouts “HONEY BALM!”

“What is your name, Chat Noir?” the victim asks.

“Ad-”

Chloe tackles Chat Noir and slaps him across the face with her balm-covered hand.They stare at each other, both blinking silently for a few seconds. Chloe isn’t sure what she expected her power to be like, or even how to use it, really.

“ _Meowch_ ,” he grumbles and rubs the side of his face.

“You’ll thank me for that when your secret identity isn’t covering the front page of every news outlet,” Chloe says lightly hits his shoulder.

Ladybug ties the victim again. “I’ll keep hold of him this time. You two search,” she says. “Don’t think I’ll let him pull that a second time.”

Chat Noir and Chloe check the victim’s pockets, turning them all inside-out. Chloe’s comb beeps once.

“And maybe this will teach you that you don’t have to throw yourself in front of me at every turn, _chatton_ ,” Ladybug chides. “I was dodging him, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Chat Noir says. Chloe’s miraculous beeps a second time right before Chat finally finds a folded paper tucked inside the victim’s pocket. His eyes widen as he reads it over. “It’s… this can’t be real.”

Ladybug snatches it from his hands and tears it in half. “Let’s worry about that part later. For now, let’s get rid of the akuma.”

The purple butterfly emerges from the torn paper and Ladybug lets go of the victim to toss her yo-yo at the akuma and quickly snatches it. After releasing the purified white butterfly, she tosses the paper into the air and shouts, “MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!” In seconds, her magic repairs all the damage left behind them. Although Chloe is anxious to get home and check on the hotel, she wants to see this through.

When the victim returns to normal, Chloe squats in front of him on the ground and grabs the man by the lapels of his plain, brown jacket. “Who are you?” she demands as her miraculous beeps a third time.

“Honeybee, your miraculous-” Ladybug starts.

“I don’t care about that right now!” Chloe says and gives the man a firm shake. “Who are you?”

Chat Noir drops beside her and hesitates before he rests a hand on her shoulder. “Hon, you’re almost out of time.”

“That’s _not_ my name,” Chloe says and shrugs his hand off of her shoulder. “It’s Queen Bee.”

Ladybug rests her hands on her hips. “Well, right now you’re not acting very much like a queen.”

Chloe frowns, but releases her hold on the victim as she stands. “Queens get what they want, and so do I.”

“They also take care of their people, don’t they?” Ladybug says and folds her arms.

Chloe wants to argue that, but she pauses and considers the point, because it _is_ coming from Ladybug, after all, and her idol had been right about making up with Sabrina. Queens take care of their people? Well, she’ll give it more thought later.

“So until then, you’re Honeybee to me,” Ladybug says.

“Until… _when_ , exactly?” Chloe says and glances around for a place to release her transformation.

Ladybug looks around, too. “Until you start acting like a queen. It was nice working with you. I wasn’t sure about you at first, but- you seem okay. I hope we run into you again.”

Chat Noir smirks. “Yeah, I hope we’ll _bee_ seeing you.”

“Oh, you will,” Chloe says and tosses her hair (and ignores Chat’s pun), then flicks open her fan and darts off in the direction of the hotel while Ladybug tosses her yo-yo in the opposite direction.

Chloe finds an alley a few blocks from the hotel just as her miraculous gives its final beep. The transformation releases and Neela flops on top of Chloe’s head.

“You did an _amazing_ job, Chloe!” Neela chirps, then yawns.

She tries, but fails, to hide her pleased smile. “I did, didn’t I?” Chloe says and reaches up to pluck Neela off of her head, then tucks the kwami inside of her jacket and steps out of the alley.

The hotel is still standing, and looks exactly as it is supposed to. With a relieved sigh, she strides across the street and pauses in the lobby, taking her time to look over everything carefully. Ladybug’s magic didn’t fail; everything is in perfect shape. Although no one could tell by looking at her, it makes her sick to think of her mother’s legacy being razed to the ground by some crackpot reporter making up libel about her father just to get some hits to his blog, or sell a few extra papers.

Chloe presses the elevator button; hopefully lunch is extended because of the akuma. If not, she’ll just have to get Sabrina to give her the notes from the afternoon’s lesson and whine about how stressed the attack left her.

She steps into the elevator when the doors slide open and leans against the wall. “You know, Neela, I’ve been thinking. If we’re going to keep doing this, we _need_ to do something about my hair. I’d look awesome with a top knot, don’t you think?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Any and all feedback is appreciated!


End file.
